Judas' Nightmare
by Joei Write
Summary: "What Are Friends For?" Halloween special. Judas is paired up with another chick to perform a song for No Moon Night, but things don't exactly go as planed for the young chick and his new partner. They have rivals, complications, and more. Judas' anti-socialism might be the downfall of this duo, but where there's friendship, there's always a way.


**So I got a PM from an anonymous author saying he/she was rather upset I skipped Judas' childhood. He/she figured it was an important part to the story, and I just jumped to when Judas was grown. So, to make it up to him/her, as well as getting into the spirit of things for Halloween, not to mention the inspiration I got from Penguinator24's "Vampire Epidemic" story, this is a Halloween special taking place during Judas' chick months, where you find out just how he was treated, and why he acts the way he does in "Hear My Voice".**

Judas' Nightmare

A Happy Feet Halloween Special

By MyWayWriter (a.k.a. Joei)

Most of the days Judas spent as a chick were filled with teasing and self-loathing. There was no doubt that he hated himself, regardless of how often his family told him he was special. Everyone adored his hot pink eyes, and his pure white feathers which swallowed up the rest of his small, frail body made him a sight to see. The problem was that only his family members seemed to think so, all the other penguins in his class and among the nation saw him as a freak of nature and was very unsettled by him. One day in particular was the last time Judas thought he'd ever go to school, he was tired of the teasing, tired of the name calling, and tired of the fear he caused. Because of all this, he had grown into a real teacher's pet, the only penguin in the class who saw through Judas' appearance and saw the true talent and sadness underneath.

It was late afternoon; due to the new food shortage, classes in New Emperor Land had been pushed back into the evening than the morning, and Judas was standing in the front of the class with no one next to him, he was all by himself as usual, just singing the same song as everyone else for practice. After the song was finished, the teacher, who was a male, clapped his flippers and nodded his head towards Judas.

"Well done everyone…especially you Judas!" The teacher said and winked to the little white one.

"Thanks Mr. Múinteoir…" Judas said and bowed his head, making Mr. Múinteoir bowed his head back as a sign of respect. Judas may have been exceedingly different from the other penguins in the nation due to his albinism, but the talent that ran through the family remained. He was the best in his class like his uncle, Erik, before him, and like his mama, Gloria, before him.

"Alright I think that's enough for today class, you may be dismissed…" The whole class began to walk away, but Judas always talked with Mr. Múinteoir for a few minutes after. "One moment my boy…" The kind old man said. "Amicus…!" He called out to another young male penguin in the class. The youngling turned around and looked at his mentor. "Come hither, I have a big request for you." Amicus did as he was told and strolled up to the knowledgeable penguin. Amicus was nervous about walking up it his teacher, this was because he'd never had to do that before, and he was weary about getting close to Judas.

"Yes sir…?" He asked, Amicus was nervous, but he was a good boy and would never disobey his parents, or anyone else.

"So you both know there's this festival coming up, right?" Both penguins shook their heads; they hadn't heard anything about a festival. "The festival…? You haven't heard of it?" They shook their heads again.

"No sir…" Amicus said, "I'ven't heard a thing about a festival."

Mr. Múinteoir placed his flipper over his face and sighed, "My pardons then for thinking you'd know. The upcoming festival is once every spring, it's called No Moon Night. It's the only night of the year where the moon is nowhere to be found in the night sky and in its place shines the lights that occur here during graduation. The festival celebrates the new talents that have been given to us through the new generation of penguins and uses their talents to bring the moon back to us. Of course, I think it's just a strange coincidence that has to do with the way our world moves, but it works." No Moon Night has been mentioned to Judas by his Mama, but he never heard anything further.

"Would this idea about No Moon Night happen to be based on something my big sister told you?" Judas asked. His Pa had always talked about how much he missed his daughter Syrena, and he told Judas about how she was not only a great singer, but also a great thinker and problem solver.

"Why yes, it is actually. Your sister Syrena was a fantastic thinker, and I hope she's happy with that Zev fellow I heard about." Mr. Múinteoir knew about the incident with Syrena and Zev, and he had wished her the best of luck in life. But his trail of irrelevant thoughts was cut off by a comment from Amicus.

"So if this…No Moon Night is coming up, and there's a festival honoring it, why are you talking to us?" Amicus was not the brightest little chick, Judas was surprised he could figure it out on his own, and he wasn't afraid to show it.

"What are you stupid? He clearly wants us to sing a song or do something on No Moon Night…correct?" Judas was right in his assumption, but Mr. Múinteoir wasn't too happy about his language.

"Hey Judas…! We don't speak to classmates that way, apologize right now!" He demanded, Judas didn't feel he had to apologize for someone else's stupidity, but he really wanted to sing, it was the one thing he loved to do more than anyone and anything.

"Sorry Amicus, I'm just a bit brash today."

"It's fine Judas; I'm feeling a little hasty myself." Amicus said towards his white companion.

"Alright, now that that's settled, Judas…you are right, all the class in New Emperor Land will be facing off against one another in pairs to determine which class is the best. The contest will be decided by the ability to come up with a song based on the themes of No Moon Night and the experience of performing as a duo. And I think you two are the perfect tag team to take our class to victory."

Mr. Múinteoir had thought deeply about this choice to perform, but if anyone had the guts and the talent to sing in front of the whole nation as a chick, it was these two. He knew that Judas was antisocial due to his color, and Amicus was shy, but combine the two into one great team and the outcome would be unimaginable, you'd have to see it to believe it.

"Alright I'm in…" Amicus said first, "What about you?" He said to his partner-to-be. Judas turned around and walked away and said,

"Don't hold me back…" And Judas waddled off towards home with his body swinging and his head into deep thought about this. Amicus and Mr. Múinteoir watched him walked away, and the adult penguin just sighed and shook his head.

"Give him a chance Amicus…" He said, "He's always been that way, I don't blame him, but it'll be interesting to see him work together with you. You're both completely opposite in every way, that's why you'll make a great team."

"I hope you're right sir…" Amicus said, "When is No Moon Night?"

"Tonight…"

"Tonight…?!" Amicus yelled and jumped. "Why would you tell us about this tonight?"

"That's part of the test Amicus; it's almost like a bonus grade, or a pop quiz." Mr. Múinteoir laughed heartily, but Amicus just ran off to Judas and tried to catch up to tell him the news.

(Back Home)

"What if we sing about leopard seals? That's creepy…right?" Amicus asked Judas, but Judas wasn't amused.

They had gotten home an hour ago and the sun was starting to go down, the moon was disappearing and the tension between the two was getting no better. Amicus had suggested many possible things for No Moon Night, skuas, aliens, whales, eels, squids, and now, leopard seals. Judas was growing frustrated by his partner; he was beginning to question Mr. Múinteoir's judgment.

"Look Amy…" That had become Judas' nickname for him, "This isn't working! We forgot to ask what the theme was for tonight! How are we supposed to create, memorize, and perform a song on an empty thought pool!?"

"BOO…!" An adult screamed and charged into the home.

"AHHHHH…!" The two young penguins shrieked like the wind whipping through an ice chasm, and their haunter turned out to be Judas' uncle, Erik. The classmates had gotten so scared they grabbed each other like they do in cartoons and pulled close together, but instantly pulled out when they saw who it was.

"Uncle Erik…! You scared us half to death!" Judas yelled at him.

"That's the theme of No Moon Night…FEAR!" Erik scolded and threw his flipper up in the air and giving Judas a sneer.

"Oh…so now we know the theme…but what do Judas and I sing about?" Erik noticed Amicus' question and frowned and thought of a few things.

"Well…you could talk to Sven, he's been around a lot of places, I'm sure he could think of something." Erik said, and Judas liked the idea, but was concerned about something else.

"Hey Uncle Erik…? Where are my Mama and Pa? I've been here for a while and they haven't come home." Judas loved his parents dearly, but he felt like they didn't care about him or had any time to spare for him.

"Your Pa is being held up by rehearsals for the opening medley of No Moon Night; your Mama was the one who sent me here to check on you." Erik then had an idea, one that could benefit both of them. "Why don't we go find Sven? I'll take to him and he'll surely give you a few ideas. And afterwards, I'll take you to Mama and Pa."

Judas was still reluctant to go anywhere with Amicus, he felt like the student was just dead weight. But to his mentor's wishes, Judas was going to have to perform with Amicus, whether he liked it or not. "Alright…let's go then." And so the three set off with Judas scurrying ahead of them, leaving Amicus to walk next to Erik behind him; it was then that Amicus looked up to Erik, he had a question for the adult Emperor.

"Um Mr. Happy Feet…?" Erik looked down and smiled. "Why is your nephew so…?"

"Arrogant…? I have no clue. No one in our family has been that way before. I mean, now that we're all Pathfinders, you'd expect more from Age's son. I guess we've all got a troublesome penguin buried deep inside us, I know Gab does, and so does Syrena." And the question Amicus asked had been answered.

After a while of walking they came across the main stage area, where Age was performing on the top and Hayley was just watching on the bottom clapping her flipper and tapping her feet, showing her husband and back up dancers how to move. Judas smiled and ran up to his Mama and clung to her leg and giggled.

"Hi Mama…" Hayley looked down and smiled and her eyes brightened.

"Hi sweetie…it seems Uncle Erik got you here without a hitch." Hayley was trying to be nice, she figured some mishap was coming up.

"Actually…Uncle Erik scared us…"

"Us…? Who are Us…?" Hayley asked her son, curious and excited that Judas made a friend.

"My teacher picked me to represent our class at No Moon Night tonight, and my partner is Amicus, he walking with Erik." Hayley's excitement faded, but she was still happy he was getting social interaction.

"So you scared Judas? Why would you do that Erik?" She looked up from Judas and directed her question to the approaching, and guilty Erik.

"Well…I arrived at your home and I overheard these two saying they didn't know the theme for this year's No Moon Night, so I jumped in and scared them!" Erik said proudly. "What do you think of that?"

"I think you've always been a doofus…" Said a familiar voice, Age had heard the whole conversation on stage and had told his performers to take five. Afterwards he decided to chime in and let his own voice be heard. "You wouldn't want to give my son nightmares, now would you bro?" Erik crossed his flipper and smiled while giving Age a raised eye lid.

"Well, that's one way to make an appearance." Hayley said to him. She loved his position in this, but still thought about the impression his behavior there might reflect on Judas, since Judas was already misbehaving around others.

"Sorry Hayley…hey Judas…! I heard you going to be in the No Moon Night festival tonight! That's a big honor, any idea what's you'll sing?"

"No Pa…" He told his father, "Amicus and I can't think of anything."

"Did you ask Sven?" He suggested.

"We would've…" Erik spoke up, "But we looked for him on the way here and couldn't find him." Age obtained a smile at his brother's statement and chuckled.

"Of course you didn't find him, that's because he's been here with us practicing. He's part of the intro for the opening." Age concluded and turned around facing some direction, "Hey Sven…! Age's son needs your help!" He called, a speedy sound was heard and then a black flash, and Sven was landed right in front of Judas, Amicus, and Erik.

"Greeting birdies, Age's boy, Judas, Judas' friend, and Earik…I mean Erik." Sven corrected himself before Age did it for him. "What can the Sven do for you?" Sven was still talking about himself in the third person. Hayley shook her head, she never understood why Age and Sven did that to each other.

"Well the theme tonight for the party…thing…is Fear." Amicus started.

"And we need ideas for a song to perform to represent our class, and fast!" Judas exclaimed to his Dad's friend.

"Well then…when I was back in my homeland, I once heard these children aliens speaking of something called Halloweeny. It was sort of like this celebration with parties, dances, and fear, lots of it too! People were screaming and scaring one another left and right. They had dressed up in weird outfits too, like when Lovelace had on his sweater, but much more extravagant. This one boy said he dressed up as a werewolf, whatever that is, another said a vampire, and something called a witch. All I know for sure is that the children did their best to scare one another, and I think you should do the same. After if the aliens celebrate Halloweeny and give each other a friendly fright…why can't we celebrate No Moon Night and do the same?" Everyone nodded, even Judas.

"Thank you so much Sven, come on Amy…!" Judas said and pulled Amicus away and off to the side. "I have a great idea, we'll scare everyone with the ideas Sven just gave me!"

"I like where you're going with this Judas, whatever it is…count me in…" Amicus said and the two ran off into the distance. Once they were further away, Amicus and Judas stopped running and looked around. "This is a good spot to practice; no one will see us here."

"Okay this is what I'm thinking…monsters, werewolves, vampires, witches…and leopard seals!" Growled Judas in a Halloweeny like fashion and waving his flippers in the air.

"I like it…but don't you think we should add something else besides leopard seals? They won't think it's scary if they don't know what we're talking about." Amicus pointed out, but Judas' temper came back to him.

"Oh yeah…? Like what…? You think that you can come up with something better on the spot?! We're running out of time to even put something together, let alone memorize it and you're still complaining about what we put in it? We don't have time for that!" Judas yelled at him.

"Well pardon me for trying to make it match the theme by making it scary and fun at the same time!" Amicus yelled back, Amicus was a shy penguin, but he had had it up to here with Judas by this point.

"You know what Amy…"

"Stop calling me that…" Amicus sternly told him.

"Amy…Amy…Amy…" But that was Judas' big mistake, for Amicus then jumped on him and the two started fighting on the ground and both were getting bruised up around. Both were struggling, and each wanted the fight to stop, so sooner than later, Judas pushed Amicus off with his feet and the both of them rolled away and got on their feet gasping, and giving each other glares that could make an adult quiver in fear. "You know what…!" Judas screamed to him after their small brawl. "I think Mr. Múinteoir made a huge mistake putting us together!"

"Finally…something we agree on!" Amicus shouted back.

"I can do this on my own! I don't need or want your stinking help!" Judas threw at Amicus.

"Same here…! Goodbye Ju-Dance…!" Amicus scoffed and walked away.

"Grrr…!" Judas growled out from his little beak and turned away from the penguin that was walking away. "Hmm…" He started, "I don't need him…I used to penguins walking away from me." The harsh reality of that statement didn't even bother Judas. "Okay now let's see here…" He said and started thinking of something.

_Heart thumps…and you…jump_

_Coming down with…goose bumps…_

_You dare to…go there…I'm get you so scared_

_We might just…bite…underneath the moonlight_

He was singing and thinking out loud, but what Judas didn't know was that a rival school's performer had seen the whole thing and was still watching. "Dude…you nailed it spot on! How'd you know that that was going to happen?" The first penguin asked.

"Please…anyone who gets paired with Judas is headed for disaster, anyone can tell you that." The second penguin said. "Everyone knew these two would never be able to perform together. And now best performance will surely go to us."

"So what do we do now?" The first penguin chick said again.

"We watch what Judas does, and then we'll copy it and make it our own. Then we'll win the contest and bring our class to victory for sure."

And so without any further distractions, the two rival chicks watched Judas think and act out his own performance without ever knowing he was getting copied, it was going to be a massive surprise for Judas when it was his turn to perform for the school.

(Later that night)

The festival started, and the opening number was already set in motion by Age, and everyone thought he couldn't have made a better choice. **(Thriller-Michael Jackson, R.I.P MJ)**

_It's close to midnight, and something evil's lurking in the dark…_

_Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart_

_You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it…!_

_You start to freeze, as horror looks you right between the eyes_

_You're paralyzed…_

_Cause this is thriller…!_

_Thriller night…!_

_And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike_

_You know it's thriller…!_

_Thriller night…!_

_You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller…_

_Tonight!_

Age had conducted the opening performance as he had been told he would. Everyone hollered and clapped after he was finished with his song and walk over to his parents and gave his Mama and Pa a hug.

"You've still got it sweetie, even after two chicks." Gloria said in the sweetest voice.

"Yeah, I have to say Age, no matter what song it is…you always pull it off with grace and mastery." Mumble told his son, who he was so proud of right now.

"Thanks so much you guys…but I'm really excited to see Judas and Amicus perform. I heard they'll make a great team."

"They will…" They all turned around and saw Mr. Múinteoir.

"Ah…Mr. Múinteoir, nice to see you…!" Age extended his flipper and shook his. Has Judas been a good boy?"

"Mostly…but we all have our problems." After the pleasantries were out of the way, "You know, I'm really looking forward to your son's performance myself, especially since I'm the one who paired him up with Amicus to begin with."

"You were the one that paired them up?" Mumble asked the teacher. Mr. Múinteoir nodded his head, "Well, you must have a lot of faith in Judas.

"I do…and I have a lot of faith in Amicus too…" Just then, after the four of them were done conversing, Atticus, Nicki, Erik, Bo, Gab, Sapphire, Kourtney, Hayley, Jake, and Sven all arrived at their spot and all the apologies began.

Age, Mumble, Gloria, and Mr. Múinteoir, all settled everyone down and spoke to them gently. "It's alright everyone!" Gloria started.

"Yeah, you haven't missed anything yet." Mumble continued.

"Judas, or anyone else hasn't performed at all." Age said to everyone.

"We're sorry Uncle Mumble…" Atticus started, "Nicki and I were getting Kourtney prepared and we lost track of time."

"Don't bring me into this!" Kourtney spoke up to her Pa from his side now that she was grown, "I told you I didn't need all that spiffing up to two did to me." But her Mama gave her a glare.

"But don't you look better?" Nicki asked her. Kourtney crossed her flippers and pouted, but Jake reassured her.

"Well I like it on you." Jake said tenderly and placed a flipper on her shoulder and smiled.

"Thanks Jake…"

After that, everyone quieted down and watched the young performers begin their shows. A lot of the songs had to do with leopard seals, killer whales, and skuas. Yes, they were supposed to be fearful, but few penguins in the audience of the entire nation-wide crowd gasped or screamed. The whole nation was watching these acts, but none seemed to stick out. After a time, towards the end, a pair of confident looking birds strolled out on stage and gave each other a high-flipper. One of them looked over to Judas, who was off stage to the right waiting for his turn to go and he said, "Take notes Judas…" To which Judas scoffed and just watched. The dancing started, and Judas was in for a big surprise. **(Calling All the Monsters- China Anne McClain)**

_Calling all the monsters…_

_Calling all the monsters…_

_Calling all the…_

_Calling all the…_

_Calling all the monsters…!_

Judas' beak dropped, for he now saw they stole his song and was performing it as their own.

_Oh yeah, oh, oh yeah, oh, oh yeah, oh…_

_Yeah, yeah…_

_Herat thumps and you jump, coming down with goose bumps_

_You dare to go there, I'ma, I'ma, get you so scared!_

_We're wanting to, we're haunting you_

_We're wanting to, we're haunting you _

_Eh, eh…_

_You stayed in too late to be getting afraid this scene extreme_

_I-I-I I'ma get you so scared_

The song was very repetitive, and after seeing the nation's reaction, Judas was glad they performed it and he didn't. After a short period of pain, according to Judas, the song he came up with was done and it was his turn to go up next.

"Thank you very much…!" Said Noah, who was hosting the competition. "Our last performance for this festival's intro comes from the class of Mr. Múinteoir. Everyone clapped their flippers together and stomped their feet, the whole crowd heard the Happy Feet family scream,

"**GO JUDAS!"**

The two little punks who stole his song walked past him with sly smiles on their faces, but they we're more like evil grins of destruction to Judas. He was too busy thinking about what he was going to do to explain that they stole his song. "What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?" Judas kept asking himself over and over.

"Come on kid you're up!" Said one of the penguins running the performance, there were mumbles in the audience about Judas, he could hear it, but just when he thought it could get any worse, he felt a flipper touch his shoulder. Judas turned around, and he saw Amicus.

"Amy…? I mean…Amicus?" And his partner smiled and nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw those chicks spying on you, it really made me mad, even though we had a fight. I wanted to stop them, but I figured I had no chance against two of them, so instead I came up with my own song off of the feelings I got watching them cheat like that, and it even has some of your weird alien ideas in it too! And it requires two to perform it. You can sing the chorus, I'll sing the verses, and we'll be a great team!" Amicus had actually come back, Judas couldn't believe it. Amicus then walked past him and turned around. "Are you coming?" Amicus said and put out his flipper for Judas to grab, to which Judas actually smiled and took it.

"Thanks Amicus…about before…I…"

"Save it for later…" Amicus said, and Judas nodded, then both of them charged out on stage and Amicus gave the signal to the dancer as to what to do. Amicus then told Judas what to sing and then the performance began, Judas' very first nation-wide show. **(This is Halloween-Marilyn Mason)**

Amicus: _Boy and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to something strange?_

_Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween!_

That was Judas' cue, and like his father before him, he was right at home on stage.

Judas: _This is Halloween!_

_This is Halloween!_

_Penguins scream in the dead of night!_

_This is Halloween!_

_Everybody make a scene!_

_Trick or treat 'till the neighbors gonna die of fright!_

_It's our land, everybody scream!_

_In this land of Halloween!_

The two were great together just like their teacher thought they would, and they were already probably better than all the other performers that came on.

Amicus: _I am the one hiding under your skin, _

_Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red_

_I am the one hiding under your stairs_

_Fingers like snakes and spiders in the air!_

Judas: _This is Halloween!_

_This is Halloween!_

_Halloween!_

_Halloween!_

_Halloween!_

_Halloween!_

The two chicks who stole Judas' song had their beaks on the floor, and the audience was shaking, in a good way of course. They'd never heard of this before, monster under your skin, crawly critters in the air, and everything else the spooked them sung by Judas and Amicus.

The Elders agreed, after they were finished, there was no competition, they had won by a long shot, mainly for their excellent ability to scare the audience, which is what the theme was, Fear.

"And the winner is…" Noah yelled to the nation with all the students and their teachers by their sides, "Mr. Múinteoir's class with Judas and Amicus!"

The whole crowd hollered and gave Judas and his new friend big a congratulations, and Age and the family ran up on stage to him. "Great job buddy, that was phenomenal!" Age told his son. The rest of the Happy Feet family spoke out to him as well with their compliments, but Judas pulled away to go speak with Amicus.

"Pardon me everyone…" Judas said and walked over to Amicus, who was watching his parents speak with Mr. Múinteoir. Amicus saw Judas start walking over and approached him halfway, and then he pointed to his parents.

"My Mama and Pa are talking with Mr. Múinteoir about something; I can't understand all those big words yet." Judas and Amicus laughed very hard at the true, yet funny statement. After the laughs were out, Judas sighed and said,

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for earlier, I never expected you to come back, but now I'm glad you did."

"Anytime, I stand up for what I think is right, even if the right thing is defending a pure white penguin that only has one friend."

"But I don't have any…" Judas caught Amicus' hint, and he just smiled and held up his flipper for a high one. "Friends…?" Judas asked,

"Friends…" Amicus was about to give Judas a flipper bump showing their new friendship, but Amicus' Mama rushed over and pulled him away.

"What are you doing Amicus? He could have a disease you could catch!" His Mama said and escorted him away. Judas was stunned, and then Amicus' Pa looked down at him and roughly said,

"Stay away from my son you freak…" And the three walked away.

"He doesn't have an illness…he's my friend!" Amicus screamed, but it was too late, Judas already ran off and was angry and sad.

His family searched for him but they couldn't find him, the little white penguin was lost in the crowd and ran off to no one knows where. Judas returned to his home and crossed his flippers, he cried for the rest of the night, and just before he passed out from crying he whispered, "I'll show them, I'll show them all…"

**And now you know why Judas is a jerk to everyone. Thank you all for your time tonight on Halloween and enjoy! Happy Halloween everyone!  
**


End file.
